Plant pathology is aimed at providing the necessary treatment for your plants and vegetation. Have you ever wondered how pathogens and viruses kill plants? This article will explain all the peculiarities of plant pathology!
What is Pathology?
Plant pathology is the science connected with the study of plant pathogens. These pathogens are organisms that cause infections. Other aspects of plant pathology also include parasitic organisms which affect the life of plants.
It is necessary for us to understand the pathology of plants if humanity wants to save them! Let`s dig deeper and look at where it all began.Plant pathology was one of the oldest studies humanity was involved in. The very first pathogens of plants were discovered by the father of botany – Theophrastus. In 300-286 BC, he studied plants and wrote about the diseases he discovered.
The second phase of botany was spearheaded by Robert Hooke in 1665. He illustrated fungal diseases that affect plants.
However, real studies of plant pathology began with the invention of the microscope.
The very first academic department of plant pathology was introduced in 1907 at Cornell University. The first plant pathology society was created in 1908 in the USA. Today, departments of plants pathology can be found in most institutions around the world. To plan and manage agriculture, every country should provide adequate funding to its plant pathology departments. Let's take a look what happens if there is insufficient funding!
Effect of plant pathology on food production
History of plant pathologyA control of plants is a crucial aspect of reliable production of food in the world. Plant disease may significantly decrease the availability of water, land, and fuel. Disease control is notably successful in most of the plants. This is made possible by breeding plants which are resistant to the diseases.
These diseases can reduce plant yields up to 10% in developed and 20% in developing countries. If a country invests into plants disease control and studies, it significantly reduces the chances of the plants getting any disease. The ongoing evolution and development of the disease control help to cultivate disease-free plants.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, various pests and plants disease are responsible for 25% of yields loss. Therefore, new methods of diagnostics are on the way to fight with these yield losses!
Top 5 Plants Pathogens
1. Fungi
The most obvious killer of all plants is fungi. They can reproduce in a lot of ways, and their spores can be spread across the long distances. A lot of fungi species can live on the ground without air. New specie of fungi can evolve and provide varying effects on the plants. One of the best examples is Necrotrophic fungal pathogens which gets its nutrients even from the dead cells of a plant.
2. Fungi-Like Organisms
Another type of killer organisms for plants is fungi-like organisms. They are called the oomycetes. These organisms lead to one of the most destructive pathogens of the plants – Phytophthora. These pathogens are responsible for the sudden oak death, root rot, and potato late blight. The oomycetes developed a fungi-like strategy of killing the plants. It uses defector proteins and turns off the plant defense mechanism against diseases.
Another type of fungi-like pathogens is Phytomyxea. The most deadly species are Spongosopora and Plasmodiophora. They are responsible for cabbages' club root and potatoes' powdery scrab.
3. Bacteria
A lot of bacteria contained in plants do not harm them. There is only a small number of species which are able to cause damage to the plants. Studies showed that about 100 species can do that! You can find plants-killing bacteria in tropical and subtropical climates. A significant number of pathogenic bacteria are rod-shaped. Presently, there five known bacteria pathogenic factors:
- Exopolysaccharides;
- Phytohormones;
- Effector proteins;
- Toxins;
- Degrading Enzymes.
The most significant plant's bacterial pathogens are Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Xanthomonas, and Proteobacteria.
4. Viruses and viroids
There are a lot of types of virus that affect plants. Nonetheless, some people believe that having control over these viruses is not necessary. The main reason for that is its insignificance in damages. It can only cause loss of crop yield.
5. Nematodes and parasitic plants
Nematodes are small worm-like animals that can cause a lot of trouble for plants. They are usually a problem of tropical and subtropical climates. They cause more than $300 million worth of damages to Europe every year.
Parasitic plants, lie dodder and mistletoe are included in the study of the pathology of the plant. These plants are used as conduits for the viruses. Therefore, they can lead to a significant loss of crop yields!
Conclusion
Pathology of plants is a study which can significantly increase the survivability of humanity. Therefore, it`s necessary to invest more in this science as it can increase the number of plants which are necessary for our survival!